Synonyms: lumbago, lumbalgia, acute lumbalgia, sudden back pain, blockage.
Definition
The term lumbago is not a medical diagnosis in the true sense. Rather, it describes a state of illness. Lumbago is the sudden, severe back pain of the lumbar spine that leads to immobility.
Concept
The term lumbago is a term widely used in the population for sudden back pain. The medical term for lumbago is lumbago, acute lumbalgia or acute lumbar syndrome pain in the lumbar spine. While the term acute lumbalgia still emphasizes the sudden pain event, the term lumbago can also stand for the simple back pain that may have been present for a longer period of time.
However, neither term represents a real diagnosis because it does not provide any information about the cause of the disease. Sudden, painful and movement-restricting events in the neck and cervical spine area are similarly referred to as neck shot, acute cervical pain (cervicobrachialgia) or acute torticollis. A distinction should be made between the acute worsening of chronic back pain, which is usually less severe.
Lumbago can have various causes. Patients usually report a minor movement that caused the sudden back pain from previously complete freedom from symptoms, such as raising the upper body from a stooped position, lifting objects in a stooped position or turning the upper body in an unfavorable position. Either immediately, or at a short distance from the triggering event, there is almost no movement in the lumbar spine area.
The slightest movement causes severe back pain and causes the back muscles to contract cramp-like. As a rule, the pain is locally limited to the lower lumbar spine region. If the pain has been present for some time, it may radiate into the buttocks, groin or thigh.
Almost never does the pain radiate into the foot or is associated with disorders of skin sensitivity. with our partner
- How do I distinguish a herniated disc from lumbago?
Patients with lumbago are usually dependent on outside help to reach the doctor. The diagnosis of lumbago is quickly made based on the patient’s medical history (anamnesis) as well as the clinical appearance.
Patients with lumbago report on the above-mentioned minor movements as they are actually performed on a daily basis and on the sudden pain event that follows. Every movement leads to severe back pain. Often forced postures are adopted because only then a reasonably tolerable body positioning is achieved.
One example is the frequent appearance of a patient who appears at the doctor’s office in a bent upper body position and reports that it is no longer possible to straighten up again. For the physician it is primarily important whether a serious illness is present, which requires quick action, because otherwise permanent damage could remain. This can be the case in the event of an acute herniated disc.
By a thorough physical examination with examination of the strength, the feeling and the muscle reflexes as well as the question of bladder and rectum control (Cauda syndrome), an acutely threatening illness can be excluded with large security. The strength of the back pain is not decisive in this case. Since the term lumbago does not represent a correct diagnosis, the doctor should try to get to the bottom of the cause of this sudden back pain.
The physical examination is decisive here. Manual-therapeutic examination techniques can detect blockages in the small vertebral joints by examining the mobility of each pair of vertebral joints on a floor-by-floor (segmental) basis. Temporary blockage of the vertebral joints is probably the most common cause of lumbago.
Otherwise, the changes are not very characteristic. Almost always there is increased, pain-related muscle tension of the muscles accompanying the lumbar spine (paravertebral). In most cases, a point pain in the area of the spinal column is indicated.
This point may be located slightly to the side of the spine, in the area of the vertebral joints, or directly in the middle between two vertebral spinous processes, in the area of the intervertebral discs (vertebrae).If an intensive examination for lumbago is not possible due to the severe pain, it does not have to be forced if serious diseases could be safely ruled out. A symptomatic pain therapy is the first priority here. Especially in younger patients with a first-time lumbago, despite the acute pain, an x-ray image (x-ray) is not absolutely necessary.
Vertebral joint blockages, herniated discs or pulled muscles cannot be detected on an X-ray. This is not the case if there was previously chronic back pain, an accident (e.g. a fall) or if older patients have fallen ill. Especially in older patients with a previously unknown reduction in bone mass (osteoporosis), even a minor movement can lead to a fracture of the vertebral body.
In order not to miss an optimal therapy (vertebroplasty-kyphoplasty) in these cases, it is worthwhile to take an X-ray. The same applies to falls and chronic back pain. In these cases an x-ray should be taken.
